TECHNOLOGYTECHNOLOGY TRANSFER: TRANSFER:INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS INNOVATIVE IN SOCIAL SOLUTIONS SCIENCES INAND MEDICINE HUMANITIES, 2019

1. Introduction UKRAINIAN VERSIONS OF CLASSIC PLOTS context of “the search” for the In the globalization era with AND CHARACTERS: ANENT THE QUESTION OF European canon. its tendency to unification of cul- THE EUROPEAN CANON tures, the interest in in-depth 2. Methods study of peculiarities of national Olga Teterina Achievements of historical literatures [1] is growing, and it PhD and comparative analysis, tech- permeates greatly the value of Department of History, niques of culture-historical and comparative literary studies [2]. Theory of Literature and Literary Art receptive-aesthetic schools are In this context, analyzing from Institute of Philology of used in the paper. this perspective of traditional National University of plots and characters becomes 14 Shevchenko blvd., Kyiv, , 10030 3. Results important too, it is one of the [email protected] Analyzing Ukrainian inter- top-priority problems of modern Abstract: The article focuses on the interpretation by pretations (T. Shevchenko, “The comparative studies [3, 4], which Y. Boyko-Blokhin, Ukrainian emigre literary critic, of Ukrain- ”; I. Franko, “The Death has long been investigating “his- ian versions of traditional plots and characters, his thoughts of Cain”; Lesya Ukrainka, “The torical patterns of functioning of are actualized with reflections of other researchers about the Stone Host”) of traditional for so-called universal characters … problem of European identity, and in particular with a vari- the world literature plots and in particular their structural ety of views on the European cultural heritage. An approach of characters (Prometheus, Cain, changes, semantic transforma- the Ukrainian scholar to investigation of the outlined problem Don Juan) in the context of the tions and evolution of cultural precedent literary tradition, from (with special attention to peculiarities of the national literature, functions, experienced by them the perspective of literary style and an emphasis on clarifying "mechanisms" of creative trans- when “crossing the borders” of di- development, the scholar sub- formation of traditional material) is conceptualized from the verse national literatures, genres, stantiates their originality, which, perspective of the literary studies of the 20th century and be- style epochs” [5]. In this context, accordingly, reveals also national ginning of the 21st century. Arguments of the scholar concern- it is important to take into ac- specifics of Ukrainian literature ing authenticity of Ukrainian versions of traditional characters, count achievements of archetypal as an integral component of the namely Prometheus (T. Shevchenko "The Caucasus"), Cain critics [6–8]. European cultural space. (I. Franko "The Death of Cain") and Don Juan (Lesia Ukrain- Modern researchers empha- The emigre scholar, who ad- ka "The Stone Host"), are analyzed and comprehended in the size the importance of under- vocated peculiarity of Ukrainian European context, with due consideration for previous tradi- standing “dialectic of national Romanticism within Slavic and tion, from the standpoint of the problem of style. Conclusions and universal in national variants West European contexts, and of the scholar are construed as representational for Ukrainian of traditional structures, prevent- emphasized a specific role of T. literature as an integral part of the European cultural space. ing mechanical subordination of Shevchenko, considers that the An important role of conceptual ideas of the scholar, which the first to the second,” noting artist’s deepening into the well- remain relevant even for contemporary comparative literature that “just national peculiarity of known romantic character of studies, not only by contributing to continuous development certain version of traditional ma- Prometheus is very meaningful. of national comparative literature (given the impossibility of terial reveals more deeply its uni- J. Hall, author of “Dictio- their full-fledged progress throughout several decades under versal subtext, allows us to see nary of Subjects and Symbols in universal features in specific ones the ideological pressure), but also regarding the forthcoming Art” (2004), notes that “every and vice versa” [9]. of "reformatting" of the global Slavic studies, is substantiated epoch introduced its symbolic These ideas are also supported in view of the question of searching for the European canon. interpretation of the figure of by Y. Boyko-Blokhin (Ukrainian Keywords: traditional plots and characters, archetype, Slavic Prometheus, adapting the myth emigre literary scholar, specialist literatures, European context, Romanticism, national identity. to its own purpose” [10]. Other in Slavic studies, professor at the researchers, whose attention was Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich), multidimensional drawn to functioning of this traditional character in literature nature of whose literary activity was often pointed out by schol- [3, 11], are of the same opinion. Very remarkable is consider- ars. German philologists highly appreciate the contribution ation of C. G. Jung: “Every age has its own unilateralism, its of the researcher, inter alia, to the international Slavic studies. prejudice and its spiritual pain … a poet or a prophet gives a In this context, Y. Boyko-Blokhin’s views on the problem verbal expression to something that was not outspoken by that of creative reinterpretation of traditional plots and characters moment of time, and whether through characters or by bringing in Ukrainian literature (from the perspective of the European to the stage shows the awaited by incomprehensible desire of all canon), consideration of which is the purpose of the proposed men ... for the sake of salvation of the epoch or its destruction” paper, are of particular relevance. [12]. Just “the romantic impulse of the 19th century made Pro- Following problems were set up in the furtherance of this metheus a symbol of freedom, defeater of tyranny” [10]. This purpose: is in line with the opinion of Y. Boyko-Blokhin on Shevchen- 1. Consideration of the views of Y. Boyko-Blokhin on cre- ko’s version of the character of Prometheus (“The Caucasus”). ative reinterpretation of traditional characters of Prometheus, Y. Boyko-Blokhin, substantiating peculiarity of the Uk- Cain and Don Juan in Ukrainian literature from the perspective rainian poet’s interpretation, conceptualizes it in a broad liter- of the problem of style. ary context (given the previous tradition and its actualization). 2. Clarification of significance of the scholar’s conclusions Y. Boyko-Blokhin emphasizes distinctive features of Shevchen- regarding functioning of the traditional material (with an ko’s Prometheus in comparison with versions that belong to emphasis on specific features of national interpretations) in another nations, he observes disassociation of the Ukrainian further development of comparative literary criticism, taking poet from the ancient myth (“Shevchenko does not reconcile into account “reformatting” of the world Slavic studies in the Prometheus with Zeus”), absence in Shevchenko’s poem of both

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“Voltaire-specific detronization of Promethean heroism, lower- The researcher states: “Franko responded with his poem ing of his figure”, and “pessimistic notes, typical for Goethe”. to the problems that tormented Byron ... high ideologic level of At the same time, the researcher argues that Shevchenko’s Franko’s work provided a profound response and its universal character “becomes a concise symbol (italics – O. T.) alongside character.”The Death of Cain” is an outstanding masterpiece in optimistic through figures of Prometheus”, described by Byron the world literature” [14], which convincingly confirms the phe- (for whom “Prometheus personifies sublime resilience of an nomenon of “dialogics of cultures”, according to M. Bakhtin, individual human spirit raised to the heights with the strength i. e. when these cultures “neither merge nor mix, each preserves of mind”) and Shelley (“majestic personification of the human its consistency and open integrity, but they are noticeably en- identity defeats eternal evil forces and heads to the kingdom of riched” [16]. beauty and harmony”). According to the scholar, Shevchenko’s With the poem “The Death of Cain” Y. Boyko-Blokhin as- Prometheus “is not an individual but an invincible nation”. sociates “great stylistic leap” to the “realistic” period of creative Y. Boyko-Blokhin points out that precisely in this idea “pe- activity of I. Franko, who “covered thorny way in his search for culiarity of the Ukrainian artist is seen at once” [13], since he a style” (from Romanticism to Modernism). Emphasizing the makes singular interpretation of the character that is a main- transformation of artistic and aesthetic achievements of the stream for Romantic literature. British romanticist in our own land, Y. Boyko-Blokhin comes Creative transformation of the character of Prometheus in to the conceptual conclusion: I. Franko “launched Neo-Ro- the poem “The Caucasus” explicitly testifies, according to the manticism in our literature. Lesya Ukrainka followed in his scholar, “deep penetration of Shevchenko into the world of Ro- tracks ...” [17]. manticism and peculiarity of his status in it” [13]. Researchers associate with creative legacy of the woman The scholar expanded an opinion of the French critic P. de writer, due to her deeply original versions of classic plots and Saint-Victor, who believed that Mickiewicz’s role in the world characters, totally new period in the evolution of our national literature (due primarily to the revolutionary nature of the literature. This is explicitly demonstrated by Lesya Ukrainka’s Polish poet’s art work) was “to launch a new era in literatures of drama “The Stone Host”, which Y. Boyko-Blokhin analyses in the entire Slavic world” with an emphasis on specifics of Slavic his thesis of the same name, taking into consideration both Romanticism. “If so,” Y. Boyko-Blokhin points out, thinking in previous and more recent understanding of traditional story of this context also about the role of the author of “The Caucasus,” Don Juan [17]. then T. Shevchenko “developed Mickiewicz’s revolutionary mo- Y. Boyko-Blokhin contemplates this drama in the context of tives in Romanticism, added them sharpness and political orien- West European literature (O. Anthes, G. Byron, G. Gendarme tation, and became a central figure of Slavic Romanticism” [13]. de Bevotte, P. Goize, E. T. A. Hoffmann, K. D. Grabbe, P. Meri- Franko’s version of the character of Cain (“The Death of mee, Moliere, N. Lenau, di Ponto, O. Pushkin, H. Roujon, Tirso Cain”), which Y. Boyko-Blokhin interprets as a “continua- de Molina, A. Tolstoy) and notes that a singularity of the woman tion” of Byron’s poem (“Cain”) while clarifying its role in the writer arose from thorough knowledge of the literary tradition evolution of the style of the word man (from Romanticism to and analytical approach to it. Neo-Romanticism) is also very noticeable in the context under The scholar argues that the hero of Lesya Ukrainka “absorbs consideration. just a little bit of several figures of Don Juan that existed earlier Y. Boyko-Blokhin attaches an exceptionally significant on, he is the bearer of the further existence of tradition and at the common literary value to the fact that I. Franko felt the need/ same time remains perhaps the character, the most psychological- demand to “complete the image of Byron’s Cain” [14]. The schol- ly complex figure of Don Juan in the world literature” [17]. ar argues that this poem with its reflections and philosophical Denoting the special attention to the theme of Don Juan in content continues Byron, tries to solve the problems raised by the literature of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Y. Boyko-Blo- the British poet within the style framework, inherent to the khin states that “the hero sometimes becomes his opposite”. revolutionary Lord. Views of contemporary researchers are fully consistent with “The most worthy of astonishment”, according to Volkov, it [18, 19]. This is observed by the scholar in Lesya Ukrain- is the fact that “TC (traditional characters. – O. T.), which ini- ka’s play (“defeated don Juan is a modern presentation of the tially embodied all the evil and negative (Satan, Lucifer, Cain, theme” [17]). Judas Iscariot) occasionally also undergo similar total revalu- Despite the fact that in the center of Lesya Ukrainka’s inter- ation “[15]. It should be mentioned, that the character of Cain pretation is the character of Anna (as indicated by the author), in Franko’s poem is a very illustrative example in this context, Y. Boyko-Blokhin believes that the poetess underestimates the and it is not surprising that Y. Boyko-Blokhin places a greater value of her figure of Don Juan (“her hero is interesting both focus on it: character of Cain, created by Franko, “turns” into by his scenic attraction and psychological complexity: such an its opposite. exceptional situation that he faces while standing between the I. Franko’s poem begins with the very same point which women, Dolores and Anna, and the fact that he is experiencing a was the end of the poem of George G. Byron (the murder of spiritual crisis are of great importance”) [17]. Highlighting a pe- Abel). In this context Y. Boyko-Blokhin points to significant culiarity of the conception of this character in Lesya Ukrainka’s difference in interpretation of the character of fratricide by both drama, the scholar observes: Don Juan, losing himself (italics – writers. He emphasizes that in the Ukrainian interpretation the Oh T) – “is slowly approaching petrification” [17]. individualist Cain “becomes infinitely active in the pursuit of In the underlying message of this poem the scholar sees good ... can find expression of the power of his “self” in devotion (remarkably, in view of modernization of traditional material) a to altruistic goals” [14]. reflection of fundamental problems of national existence, deep- It is noteworthy that the scholar, who accentuates in this ly peculiar “historiosophical prediction of the journey of the context the understanding of the deep symbolism of biblical Ukrainian nation in the near future” (“Ukrainian intellectuals images by the poet, perceives at the same time the symbolic between the idea of dict atorial internationalism and exalted meaning of the title of the poem: “the death of cainism as a national aspirations, pure in their impulse, as Don Juan between spiritual and mental condition” [14]. Anna and Dolores!” [17]). The woman writer, who envisions,

31 TECHNOLOGYTECHNOLOGY TRANSFER: TRANSFER:INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS INNOVATIVE IN SOCIAL SOLUTIONS SCIENCES INAND MEDICINE HUMANITIES, 2019 according to the researcher, in general terms, the October Rev- ect”, the researcher endeavors to present the Prometheus myth olution of 1917, “tries to take a look ... into the future and avert “in all its kaleidoscopic variety” [22]. The full-scale implemen- the danger” [17]. Y. Boyko-Blokhin believes that this is “the tation of this ambitious plan would apparently benefit from the Ukrainian ideological essence” of “The Stone Host”. consideration of the innovative Ukrainian version of the char- According to the scholar, Lesya Ukrainka found a solution acter of Prometheus (T. Shevchenko, “The Caucasus”), which of the contradiction between universality, and national and is undoubtedly one of the brightest segments in the “kaleido- spiritual relevance of the work precisely in the multiplicity, scope” of world culture. The conceptual thesis of D. Ďurišin provided by Neo-Romantics, in particular, by modalities of (which remains relevant for contemporary comparative studies) symbolic poetry. is very remarkable in this context as he insists on importance of Thinking of Lesya Ukrainka’s interpretation through the finding out “to what extent modification of the idea of national prism of the style problem, the researcher arrives at an import- consciousness in “dependent literatures” enriches the European ant conclusion regarding the “stylistic synthesis” of “The Stone literary process in the age of Romanticism, to what extent these Host”. The emigre scholar stated: “the classical compression, two “opposite” or rather heterogeneous groups of national liter- architectonic harmony taken from Neoclassicism enhance her atures are mutually interconnected and mutually intercrossed Neo-Romanticism with exceptional stylistic originality” [17], in their development” [5, p. 229]. which testifies convincingly distinct tendencies of Modernism It is worthy of note that Ukrainian emigre scholars have in Ukrainian literature at the beginning of the 20th century, repeatedly emphasized this. In particular, D. Chyzhevsky, the with due regard to the European context too. It is significant author of “Comparative History of Slavic Literatures” (1968), that “The Stone Host” by Lesya Ukrainka was recognized as one argued that the Slavic influence on Western European liter- of the most original versions of the traditional story of Don Juan ature should be investigated as well, he thought that it is an (Bompiani Encyclopedia, 2006). important task. But it is more important, according to the researcher, that “Slavic literatures often were “potential” for 4. Discussion West European phenomena ... External impulses conditioned Nowadays the problem of classic plots and characters is ex- the nascence of peculiar works which, because of acuity of their tremely challenging, even more due to the rather controversial content or form, brought something completely new to literary issue of “searching” for the European canon. For example, M. Böh- development” [23]. These thoughts are also supported by Y. mig, a contemporary researcher of Slavic literatures, reasonably Boyko-Blokhin [24], that is evidenced by his correspondence emphasizes an urgent need for understanding of the contribution, with D. Chyzhevsky as well [25]. in particular, of East Europe “in formation of what is considered This research is a first-ever analysis of Y. Boyko-Blokhin’s a pan-European heritage” [20]. In this context, “optics of Eastern views on the problem of traditional plots and characters in the Europe, which is common for such convinced “Europeanists” as context of national (mainland and emigre) and foreign compar- Rousseau, Herder, Mazzini,” is highly visible, observes O. Pach- ative literary studies [3, 15, 19]. lovska, a culture expert, professor of Sapienza University of The efficiency and further potential of the comparative Rome, “since 1920’s, Italy and Germany, as well as other Western scholar’s approach to investigation of the traditional material countries, begin to contemplate Eastern Europe as a civilization, (given its usability in the national literary style development), capable of completing and culminating the Western world”[21]. which is consistent with contemporary researches, is substanti- Paradoxically, in the 21st century it is necessary to prove ated [3, 11, 19]. The consideration of Y. Boyko-Blokhin’s opinion that “relative insignificance ... of the contribution of Eastern will undoubtedly deepen future comparative history of Slavic Europe seems symptomatic not so much because of insuffi- literatures, as well as studies, dedicated to analysis of Ukrainian ciency of its cultural heritage ... as due to the wrong idea of literature in the European context, training courses in the his- so-called “old Europe” about limited cultural weight of Eastern tory of Ukrainian and Slavic literatures. European countries, and frequently also due to unidirectional Сonceptual thoughts and ideas of the emigre scholar are perception of European cultural achievements, which are spread of great importance not only for the continuous development in most cases from the West to the East, and much less often of Ukrainian comparative studies [26, 27]. Y. Boyko-Blokhin’s in the contrary direction” [20]. An imperative need for it even views, in particular, on the problem of traditional plots and now is evidenced, for example, by the fact that Shevchenko’s characters (that represent Ukrainian writing as an integral interpretation of the figure of Prometheus as a symbol of un- part of European literature, highlighting its contribution to the conquerable nation, as Y. Boyko-Blokhin claims, unfortunately, pan-European cultural heritage) furnish a convincing proof of remained out of sight of Caroline Corbeau-Parsons in her book the urgent need for “reformatting” of world Slavic studies, that “Prometheus in the nineteenth century: from myth to symbol” is of crucial importance taking into account the question of the (2013) [11]. In her “vibrantly interdisciplinary comparative proj- European canon as well.

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